Page 20 of The Haunting of the Mountain

“How far is the library?” she asks.

I take another swig of my coffee. “Not too far.”

I might take a circuitous route just to spend more time with her. Kyla licks the rim of her cup and I damn near have a heart attack, spitting the coffee out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop myself.

“Are you okay?” Kyla asks, turning to me.

“Just saw the Festival is up and running. Been a while.”

“You don’t strike me as the Festival kind of guy,” she says, narrowing her eyes.

“What kind of guy do I strike you as?”

I don’t exactly live a normal life, but I think that’s something we have in common. Ghost hunting in a random cabin in the woods while her best friend hunts for Sasquatch. I’m curious about what she thinks of me.

Kyla opens her mouth, closes it as she considers something, and then says, “Let’s just say I don’t see you bobbing for apples or getting your face painted like a cat.”

“You don’t seem like the type either.”

“You’d be right.”

“Maybe we should do something out of our comfort zones.”

It comes out before I have the chance to think. And my hand’s on her arm before I have the chance to stop myself. Tugging her closer to me. It’s like I’m having an out-of-body experience. I can’t control myself.

She gasps softly before biting down on her bottom lip. “What did you have in mind?”

I’m hanging on by a thread. I barely resist taking that bottom lip into my mouth. Sucking on it, before tasting her fully.

I swallow. “I think you know.”

She whimpers, licking her lips as she stares up at me.

But then those damn kids knock into us a few moments later, followed by another half-hearted apology by their chauffeur chasing after them.

Guess I’ll have to wait to taste those lips.

Chapter 5

Kyla

When Stone mentioned tryingsomething outside our comfort zones, I thought he meant a kiss. Itlookedlike he was going to kiss me, and I wanted him to. Istilldo.

Nell’s right. There’s something off about this town. There’s no way I could fall this fast for someone I hardly know, but everything feels so effortless. I glance at Stone walking next to me and then laugh.

“Not fearsome enough?”

“Oh, no. I’d be scared if we crossed paths in a dark alleyway.”

I’d hoped for a kiss but we got our faces painted instead. Oh, well. Watching Stone sitting next to a toddler as they were both transformed into black cats made up for it.

“Probably right.”

But the truth is that the only thing scary about Stone is how much I like him.

“I’m beginning to wonder if this town has a library.”

I swear we’ve been wandering around for an hour. Whenever I’d ask him if we were close, he’d give a vague answer. I’m not sure he knows where the library is, and I’m questioning if the history he’s been spinning is accurate. He might be pulling myleg or embellishing it because he’s making Whispering Winds sound like the world’s most haunted town.

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